Cross-arm brace.



PATENTED NOV. 8, 1904.

P. B. 000K.

CROSS ARM BRAGE. APPLIGATION FILED 13.15, 1904.

NO MODEL.

W3 Zrzesses %M I liven for: -m; W Wa e/40% UNITED STATES Patented November 8, 1904.

FRANK B. COOK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CROSS-ARM BRACE- SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 774,159, dated November 8, 1904. Application filed February 15, 1904. Serial No. 193,629- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK B.Oo0K, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Cross-Arm Braces, of which the following is a full,clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a brace for crossarms, my object being, first, to provide a brace of great strength and in so doing to dispense with a large quantity of the material generally used, and thereby greatly reduce the weight of the brace, and, second, to provide a brace which may be readily and cheaply manufactured.

The cross-arm brace usually employed for bracing or supporting cross-arms of telephonepoles, telegraph-poles, &c., consists of a bar of metal, usually rectangular in cross-section, one end of which is fastened to the pole and the other end of which is fastened to the cross-arm at some distance from the pole. This form of brace is generally very heavy, as it contains much unnecessary material. If the brace is made thin, it still contains an abundance of material, but is then liable to buckle, in which case its value as a brace is very inferior. In my present invention I do away with a large part of the material usually employed in such braces, and form the small amount which I retain in such a shape as to give it great strength to withstand both longitudinal and transverse stresses.

In my Patent No. 752,655, February 23, 1904, for cross-arm brace I have shown a cross-arm brace the body of which is composed of two parallel tubes and a connectingplate therefor, both tubes being closed on the same side of the connecting-plate. In this present invention I discard the said connecting-plate and join the tubes directly to each other, thus doing away with a large quantity of the material and making a much lighter brace. If the material of the said connecting-plate should be utilized in the tubes, the brace would then have a much greater strength to resist transverse stresses applied to the broad side thereof, as the tubes would be of a larger diameter. In this present invention I preferably close the tubes on opposite sides of a plane including the axes of the tubes, thus making the transverse cross-section of the brace in the form of the letter S, with the ends curved toward the center, and providing an arrangement which may be readily and cheaply manufactured.

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the cross-arm brace, broken at the middle. Fig. 2 is an edge elevation of the brace, also broken at the middle. Fig. 8 shows a pair of braces supporting a cross-arm which is secured to a pole. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the brace, taken on line A B of Figs. 1 and 2; and Fig. 5 is an end view of Fig. 1.

Like characters refer to like parts in the several figures.

The invention consists of two parallel tubes 6 e, contiguous with each other and flattened at both ends I) and f, respectively. I preferably employ one piece of metal for both tubes and form it, as shown in Fig. 4;, into the shape of the figure 8, the edges of the metal sheet closing upon opposite sides of the portion which connects the tubes together. The tubes are preferably almost cylindrical in form; but this feature is not essential. ends of the brace are of course somewhat wider than the tubular portion, thus providing suitable surfaces for bolting the brace to the pole and cross-arm. The end I) is provided with a hole 0 therein and end f with a hole d. The ends of the brace are preferably flattened, as shown in Fig. 5, the metal forming one tube, 0, being flattened, as atff, and the metal forming the other tube, 6, being flattened, as at ff the portion f being on the opposite side of f from f The portion f is bent at the center, so as to form a smooth flat portion with f 2 and f as shown. In order to overcome lateral forces applied to the brace perpendicularly to aplane including the axes of the tubes, the said tubes 6 e are made of a diameter somewhat larger than the thickness of ordinary braces generally in use. This The flattenedv is equivalent to a brace of greater thickness than the ordinary; but the material used is much less.

In Fig. 3 l have shown a cross-arm g bolted to a pole /b and supported by two crossarm braces (l C. The braces C (l are secured to the pole h and cross-arm r/ in the usual manner, preferably with bolts.

\Vhile I have shown and described a particular formation for the cross-arm brace, I do not wish to limit the invention to the exact form as shown. Slight variations in the form may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a brace of the character described, a piece of metal formed into two, closed, parallel tubes contiguous with each other and adjoining each other, the said tubes being closed on opposite sides of a plane including their axes, one end of the brace being flattened so as to present plane surfaces on each side thereof for securing the brace in place, substantially as described.

2.. In a brace of the character described, a piece of metal comprisingthe brace and formed into two, closed, parallel, cylindrical tubes contiguous with each other and adjoining each other, the said tubes being closed on opposite sides, respectively, of a plane including their axes, each end of the brace being flattened in the said plane in such a manner as to present a uniform thickness and plane surfaces on each side thereof for securing the brace in place, substantially as described.

3. In a cross-arm brace, the combination of two, parallel, cylindrical tubes contiguous with each other and adjoining each other, the said tubes being closed on opposite sides of the portion uniting them and flattened at both ends thereof in a plane including their axes, each said flattened end presenting flat surfaces on each side thereof, and a hole through each flattened end of the brace, each of the said holes being half in each flattened tube, substantially as described.

a. The combination with a pole and a crossarm fastened thereto, of a cross-arm brace comprising two, closed, parallel tubes contiguous with each other and adjoining each other, the said tubes being closed on opposite sides of the portion uniting them and flattened at both ends thereof in a plane with the axes of the tubes, a hole in each flattened end of the brace, and bolts or pins for the said holes, adapted to secure the ends of the said brace to the pole and cross-arm, respectively, for the purpose of supporting the said cross-arm, sub stantially as described.

5. The combination with a pole and a crossarm fastened thereto, of cross arm braces therefor, each said brace comprising two, closed parallel tubes contiguous with each other and adjoining each other, the tubes of each brace being closed on opposite sides of the portion uniting them and flattened at both ends thereof in a plane with the axes of the tubes, each said flattened end presenting flat surfaces on each side thereof, a hole in each flattened end of each brace, the holes in each brace being half in each tube thereof, and bolts or pins for the said holes, adapted to secure the said braces to the pole and cross-arm, one said. bolt securing both said braces to the pole, for the purpose of supporting the crossarm, substantially as described.

in witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 12th day of February, A. D. 1904.

FRANK B. COOK.

\Vitnesses:

FREDERICK R. PARKER, HARRY B. ELMERs. 

